Shattered Mirrors and Hearts
by LITERARYjunkie25
Summary: AU, Ten/Rose. What really happened to Mickey and Rose on that spaceship when they find out the Doctor didn't neutralize all of the Clockwork Droids. Post GitF.
1. Chapter 1

The world ends not with a bang, but with a mirror shattering.

As soon as the thought entered Rose's mind, she immediately felt ashamed of herself. She understood, perhaps more than anyone, the importance of keeping history and timelines in tact. With a little shiver, she remembered the chaos of the Reapers. The time traveller in her understood this completely.

Rose, the woman in love with a 900 year old alien, however, couldn't help but feel hurt and a little betrayed. She knew something was changing between them.

Certainly his new body was more physically affectionate than her first Doctor. He was more willing to hold hands, open his arms for bone crushing hugs, and he always had a smile ready for her. Rose thought it meant a change in direction for them. Perhaps he was finally going to do something about this rolling tension between them.

But then Sarah Jane happened. And then Mickey joined them. And now Reinette.

Well, Rose could take a hint. He didn't want her. She was a Tyler woman and she wasn't going to pine away. If friendship and adventure was all he was going to offer, then she would take it. It wasn't the first time she had been rejected by a bloke. Although, this was certainly the first time she'd been abandoned 3000 years in the future on an abandoned spaceship.

"He's gone. I didn't think he would really do it. I didn't think he'd leave you-us-behind. But he did. Rose, what are we gonna do? How are we gonna get home?"

Mickey sounded panicked. Poor Mickey. On his first adventure into space and callously abandoned. A surge of anger coursed through her. How could the Doctor do this to Mickey? To her? Right. Reinette, French history, all that jazz.

She turned to face Mickey and flashed him a reassuring smile.

"Mickey. Don't worry. He's gonna come back, yeah? He wouldn't just leave us here. Just give him some time. We'll wait a while and then..."

She let the sentence trailed off. Yeah, Rose. Then what? I can't fly the TARDIS. Maybe with a little jiggery pokery I can find the Emergency Programme One switch. Or, she thought with a tight swallow, I could always open up the TARDIS once more. Desperate times, desperate measures.

As if Mickey could read her thoughts, he spoke up.

"Then what, Rose? In case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have a bulldozer to open up the TARDIS again. What happens if we die on this ship? What then?"

Right, Rose thought, time to take charge before he really loses it.

She strode forward and took Mickey's face between her hands, effectively stopping his progressing panic attack.

"Mickey! Stop. I promise you, I will take care of you, yeah? It's gonna be okay because the Doctor is coming back. He won't leave us here. We aren't going to die. We are going to wait right here, together. We're not gonna die. Okay? Breathe with me, Mick."

Mickey closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, he gave Rose a winning smile and a nod.

"Alright. Together. Right. Well, no offense to your boyfriend, but I don't wanna wait here for god knows how long. Can we go explore?"

Rose had to smile at him. Trust Mickey to go from completely useless to daringly adventurous.

"Yeah. C'mon. The Doctor took care of the last of those Clockwork Droids, so we should be clear. Let's see what this ships all about, 'kay?"

With grins, they scampered off to explore the empty corridors of the ship.

They found numerous doors which led to boring things like electrical wires, a boiler room of some sort, and what appeared to be the engine. Knowing what exactly was powering the ship, they hastily shut the door and didn't speak of it.

What they did squeal over, however, was the kitchen. Touch screens and automatic food dispensers seemed so futuristic and other worldly.

Rose looked on fondly as Mickey found a type of tea cupboard which housed every brand of tea imaginable and was dispensed via a robotic arm.

"Rose! Look at this! 3000 years in the feature and they still have Tetley! Blimey, this is surreal. It's like a weird mash of our time and some alien future. Is this what you see everyday?"

Rose laughed. Trust Mickey to get excited over a tea dispenser and not the fact that they were on a spaceship with windows connected to 18th century France.

"Yeah, Mickey. All this and so much more. Just wait til you see your first alien alien. It's..it's something."

Mickey looked up at her and tilted his head.

"Rose. I know you don't wanna think about it. And I know you have this unshakable faith in him. But he left us. He didn't even think about what would happen to you, to me. All he could think about was his French tart."

"Mickey, we're not like that. And the Doctor didn't got back for her because he fancied her or anything. He had to save her because if he didn't the timelines of our future could get screwed up. And when that happens...well, it's not pretty and people die. He had to. He would never leave us if it wasn't necessary."

Mickey looked doubtful and opened his mouth again.

"Rose. You don't have to act tough for me, yeah? I know you love him. I know you're hurtin' right now. But, Rose, you deserve so much better than him. If he's tempted by some French floozy, then he doesn't know how good he has it."

Rose was shaking her head.

"Mick, I'm not stupid. He's a 900 year old Time Lord. It would take a lot more than a London shopgirl with no A-levels to tempt him. He deserves someone like Reinette. She's beautiful and talented and clever. I read up on her in the TARDIS library. She's the kind of woman he needs, and that's okay. I always sorta knew that in the back of my head."

Mickey looked like he was about to hit something. He took her hand and spoke softy, "Rose, listen to me. You may not have your A-levels and you might have been a shopgirl. But you make such a difference to people. Do you think your Mum would have survived without you? As I recall, more importantly, it was you who saved Old Big Ears from that goo monster, yeah? So, don't ever think you aren't good enough for him."

He reached out and wiped away a few tears that had slipped down Rose's face. She let out a sound that was half sob and half laugh.

"Oh Mickey. I'm so sorry. What did I do to deserve someone like you?"

Mickey puffed his chest out in a mock 'macho man' stance.

"Yeah, well, not a tin dog, me. I'm actually Mickey The Wise and Powerful."

They giggled together and embraced. It felt good to finally talk about some of her fears out loud. Even more importantly, she was glad Mickey and she could still talk and be real mates.

"C'mon you lump, let's go see if there's another horse lurking around here."

They turned to leave the kitchen when a horrible sound reached their ears.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

With wide, fearful eyes, she turned to Mickey and mimed for him to keep quiet. He shakily nodded and looked around for the source of the ticking.

Rose swallowed and hoped that the wild pounding of her heart wasn't loud enough to give away their place in the kitchen.

Stepping carefully, as to not disturb any of the debris on the floor, Rose found herself with her ear pressed against the galley door. She gave a little start as she realized the source of the ticking was close enough to the door for her to hear.

It seemed as if the Doctor had not taken care of all the Clockwork Droids.

She stepped back and whispered harshly, "Find a weapon, anything that you can use to defend yourself. A pipe, a metal spoon, something! Quick!"

The urgency in her command seemed to get through to the stunned Mickey and he scrambled, as quietly as one can scramble, for a weapon.

He found a metal spoon and a long metal table leg. He passed the table leg to Rose, who had come to stand next to him.

Mickey gripped his pathetic weapon tightly. He was going to go down fighting. He chanced a glance over to Rose. Her face was tight and her body tense. Not her first rodeo, then. Well, he wasn't the useless lump she once called him.

However, at the sound of the galley door creaking open, he had to put his attention back onto the enemy.

For her part, Rose couldn't help but snap into companion mode. This certainly wasn't her first time out. She put any fear behind her. She beat werewolves, Slitheen, and Gelth. She could handle some overgrown clocks.

Besides, she had to survive. If not for her, than for Mickey.

But as the Clockwork Droids wandered into the galley, Rose couldn't help the traitorous thought that flashed across her mind. I wish the Doctor was here.

"You are compatible. You will be used. You are compatible."

The droid advanced towards them, his (if the droid could have a gender) arm was raised. The hand flicked open and a saw like appendage appeared.

"I don't much fancy becoming a chop shop, do you, Rose?"

With a grin, relieved that Mickey wasn't panicking too badly, Rose couldn't help but get wrapped up in the danger of the moment. One more beast, one more adventure.

"Let's do it!"

And with an inhuman battle cry, the two launched themselves at their foe.

Look at us go, Doctor. We don't need you.


	2. Chapter 2

With a cry, Rose and Mickey lifted their scavenged weapons and raced towards the lone droid. Its body was dressed in a parody of French courtesan clothing and on its head sat a brown wig.

Rose felt a surge of satisfaction run through her as her table leg smashed through the face of the droid. She narrowly missed its saw-like appendage as it began to stutter and stagger away from the force of her blows. With a spin, the droid's spinning saw ripped through the flesh of her upper arm.

Rose cried out and grabbed at her arm in an effort to stop the flow of blood.

Mickey was laughing maniacally, unaware of Rose's injury, as his metal spoon connected over and over again with the droid's torso. With a last, resounding Tick Tock, the droid collapsed to the floor into a pile of glass and cogs.

With a triumphant, "Ha!" Mickey dropped his makeshift weapon and turned to Rose, eyes alight at the prospect of victory.

"Rose! Did you see me? Man, I just clobbered the hell out of that droid thing!"

Mickey's eyes dropped down to where Rose was clutching her arm.

"Rose! Are you alright? Let me see."

"'M fine, Mick. Just a flesh wound, yeah? Definitely had worse hanging with the Doctor."

A dark look crossed Mickey's face. He opened his mouth to reply, but seemed to think better of it, instead opting to focus on getting Rose a bandage.

"Mick, seriously, it's okay. I should've been more careful. S'my fault. I know better. C'mon. Back to the TARDIS. There's tons of bandages, she'll take care of us."

They left the galley together and wandered back through the halls of the ship, the thrill of adventure and exploration over. Even more so, the adrenaline of the scuffle with the droid had put them on edge. They were more than a little jumpy, flinching every time one of them stepped on loose wire or an exposed electrical circuit sparked.

The pair caught each other's eyes and let out a shaky smile and a tiny laugh. "Look at the pair of us. I've faced werewolves and Sycorax and every other alien, and I'm flinching at some overgrown clock." Mickey slung an arm over Rose and carried on with the journey to the TARDIS, the pair of them wrapped in conversation, discussing anything and everything.

They were so engrossed with their laughter and discussion that they didn't hear the very last droids sneak up on them until the sounds of Tick Tock Tick Tock were in their ear.

Two droids, one in a brown wig and the other in a blonde, wrapped the pair in their tight, metal arms, effectively cutting off their air supply.

Rose struggled against the arms that were restraining her, but the droids possessed mechanical strength, and couldn't be overpowered. She let out a cry as the brown haired droid tightened his hold on her, putting pressure on the stinging wound that was on her arm.

At the sound of Rose's cry, Mickey struggled even harder against the blonde droid.

"You are compatible. You will be used. You are compatible."

The droids dragged them back into a nearby room. Inside there were two tilt-table like apparatuses and a collection of decidedly dangerous looking tools.

The droids' arms were slowly tightening around her neck and black spots were appearing before Rose's eyes.

"Mickey...keep...fighting...The Doctor...will...save us."

And with a gasp, everything went black, and Rose Tyler knew nothing except for the ominous sound ringing in her ears.

The sound of Mickey's scream and the steady Tick Tock Tick Tock.


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor certainly wasn't known for his well thought out plans. In fact, he was practically Captain Improv. And, well, if his plans kept working, why questions his methods? He and Rose got on just fine without any formal planning sessions in the TARDIS, yet they had managed to save quite a few planets and civilizations.

Now, stuck in 18th century France, the Doctor was starting to wish he was the kind of man who planned. It all made sense before he crashed through that mirror.

Get on horse (love that horse), save Reinette, destroy the droids, take the slow path, hitch a ride with a younger incarnation, and back to Rose and Mickey before supper. Brilliant!

Except, staring out the window of an 18th century French window, the Doctor couldn't remember the last time he was in 18th or 19th century French or Europe. Well, he was 900 years old. He was bound to be a bit foggy on the details now and then.

What would Rose do? Would she wait? How long would she wait? Ah, well. She knows all about Emergency Programme One. She can get herself and Mickey the Idiot back to the Powell Estates. Probably. Well, he hoped so at least.

He felt a twinge of guilt and regret. Rose had just let him go, just like that. He flashed back to Downing Street. Another time, another body. But Rose, oh his Rose. Still that same unfailing faith in him. He swallowed past the lump that had risen in his throat at the thought of never seeing Rose for the next few hundred years.

The Doctor was broken out of his reverie by a light touch on his arm. He turned to look down at Reinette. The woman who had touched his mind and ensnared him so easily. What was it about her that brought him to his knees? Was he truly that desperate for telepathic contact?

"My Angel, you look lost in thought."

Her voice floated through his ears, but his big Time Lord brain immediately rejected its gentle, lulling accent. It wanted to hear the harsher tones of London. It wanted Rose's voice.

The Doctor put on a smile for Reinette.

"Nah. I'm always alright, me. Just thinking about stars. You have no idea how fascinating it is for me to see what you see. You lot look out the window and just see these glittering splotches of light in the sky. And you give them funny names and try and make sense of them. But me? I get to live out there. I get to see the birth and death of each of those stars. But, well. I suppose, I won't for some time..."

The Doctor trailed off and cleared his throat, realizing his thoughts were drifting to the maudlin side. Really, he thought he was over the brooding, angsty phase of his life with the last reincarnation.

"My lonely Angel, you cannot hide from me. I have seen inside your mind. I know how your heart longs for the stars and your Blue Box. As much as I long for you, you belong out there among the stars. I believe that there may be a way back to your home."

The Doctor's head snapped up. A way back? The hope he dared not feel before surged through him.

Reinette continued, "I had my fireplace moved to my new chambers a few weeks after your last visit. The King wished me to be closer to him, but I, " she looked down, a pretty red flushing her cheeks, "I didn't want to run the risk of you never being able to come back for me. I believe it still holds the same magic properties of time you claim."

The Doctor's hearts raced at the prospect of going home. Of going back to Rose.

"Show me."

Reinette smiled softly and grasped the Doctor's hand, leading him to her chambers and the fireplace that would take him away from her.

Within a few minutes, the Doctor was buzzing about loose connections and was smiling that manic grin Reinette had come to adore. She didn't want to leave him. She wanted to go on adventures with him and live among the stars, away from the politics of the French court.

"A-ha! Yes! I am a lucky man! Well, wish me luck!"

Reinette shook her head. "No."

The Doctor's grin fell of his face as he disappeared behind the wall. His head popped up behind her fireplace once more, all spiky hair and soft eyes. The Doctor didn't want to lose Reinette. She was something, she touched a part of his mind that had been empty for so long. She deserved to see the stars she so admired.

"Reinette. I'm coming back for you. Pick a star, any star. I'll be back."

With another brilliant smile, the Doctor was up and running towards where he left Rose and Mickey. The TARDIS hadn't been so full in quite a while.

"ROSE! MICKEY! ROSE! ROSE! WHERE ARE YOU?"

The Doctor's shouts reverberated off of the steel walls of the spaceship.

There was no response.

"ROSE! ROSE!"

The Doctor began to feel the first tendrils of panic tighten in his chest. What if he was too late? Who knows how much time had passed for them while he was off in France? What if Rose had activated Emergency Programme One? What if the TARDIS wasn't here? What if?

The Doctor, spurred on by panic and fear, raced further and further into the heart of the ship, looking for any evidence that his companions were still on board. A memory washed over him, Can't you use the sonic. You know, bit o'Spock and all that? Scan for alien tech?.

Rose, even when she wasn't with him, was always helping him in times of crisis. Pulling out his sonic, the Doctor began to scan for human life. A steady, reassuring beep told him that there was still human life on board. The Doctor let out a sigh of relief and a bit of the restricting panic that was tightening around his chest eased.

However, the high pitched squeal that the sonic emitted next promptly retightened that panic. There was something decidedly not human and very much alive still on board.

Rose!

With renewed pace, the Doctor followed the instructions of the sonic, beeping louder and louder as he got closer to the source of the life forms. The sonic brought him outside a steel door. The Doctor's face went ashen as his heightened Time Lord sense picked up the smell of blood. Lots of it.

He threw the door open, dreading to see what would be behind the door, or rather, who he would see behind the door.

The Doctor let out an anguished moan as he took in the scene.

Tied to one table, restrained by a metal band, Mickey laid unconscious. A large gash ran down the side of his chest, as if something or someone had tried to pry into his chest cavity. The blood was caked over and dry. The gash didn't look very deep. There were also a few bruises and scratches scattered across the dark planes of his face. The Time Lord switched into medic mode, trying to quell the overwhelming panic he felt. Mickey would be fine. Minor injuries, only unconscious.

His eyes moved on to the other occupants of the room, desperately searching for the one person he needed.

On the floor lay the remains of what appeared to be two droids-their clockwork innards scattered across the floor. Cogs, wires, and coils were in abundance. And there, in the middle of all the machinery, lay a still-spinning saw. The Doctor gulped as he realized the brown stain on the appendage was blood.

The Doctor's panicked eyes flickered around the room, searching for the one person he needed to see. Rose.

And then, like a vision, he found her, slumped over lifelessly in the far corner of the room behind the table Mickey was tied to.

The Doctor fell to his knees in front of Rose, checking her over for injuries. His eyes catalogued a deep gash on the side of her arm, blood was flowing freely from it. Other than the one gash, Rose appeared to be unharmed. He put his hand to her forehead, his fingers itching to touch her skin. To assure himself that she was alive and breathing.

He noted that her skin was more than human hot against his cooler fingers. He trailed his hands down the side of her face and let them rest on her neck. His fingers desperately searched out the gentle thrum beneath her skin that indicated she was still alive and breathing.

With a sigh of relief, he found a steady, pounding rhythm. Alive. Alive. Alive. She's alive.

As if his psyche was waiting for confirmation that his companion was still teeming with life, the Doctor switched off all emotion. He needed to fix them. Get them out of this room and into the TARDIS. The TARDIS with her medical bay and technology and safety.

Closing his eyes, the Doctor reached out to the TARDIS using his telepathic link.

Need you. Emergency. Rose. Hurt. Please.

Though his magnificent ship was sentient and telepathic, he couldn't communicate with her beyond the short bursts of intense emotion and commands. Even then, to force the TARDIS to come to him was mentally exhausting, both for him and his ship.

He felt the TARDIS begin her dematerialization sequence and travel the few hundred feet to the room where they were being held.

He realized that Mickey had the most injuries and, loathe though he was to leave Rose, opted to him to the medical bay first. No. He wouldn't leave Rose. He couldn't leave Rose.

He hefted Rose over his shoulder in a firemen's carry and, using the sonic, freed Mickey from his metal bonds. Grabbing Mickey under the arms, he dragged him into the TARDIS with a strength he wasn't sure this body possessed.

Not since Rose had asked him to regress his regeneration had he ever wished he was in his Ninth form. That body was built for carrying two unconscious companions.

With great effort, and a silent thanks to the TARDIS for using the last bit of her energy to move the med bay closer, he set to work on healing the superficial injuries of his companions. Mickey first with the dermal regenerator.

He gave a great sigh of relief as he realized how shallow the gash was. A quick buzz with the dermal regenerator easily closed up the wound and healed the cuts and bruises on his face.

He turned to Rose and tenderly applied the same methods of healing to her arm.

When he was satisfied the two companions were completely healed of their superficial injuries, the Doctor pulled up a chair and sat down heavily.

All that was left to do was to wait. Wait for them to wake up and answer his questions. Questions like, How did this happen? What exactly happened? Who destroyed those droids? Why wasn't Rose hurt? Why wasn't Mickey hurt? Why didn't they leave him? How long had he been gone?

However, until they woke up, the Doctor would not receive answers to his questions.

He reached out and tenderly enfolded Rose's small hand into his own. He would never let her go again.

And so he waited.


End file.
